President Joe Biden has a range of economic options available: from the imposition of sanctions targeted at individual military leaders to broader sanctions that target industrial sectors or companies over which the military has control. Visa restrictions are also a way of putting pressure on generals because such sanctions can be applied to the families of targeted individuals – a blow to Myanmar’s military officers, who, for example, may have children who want to study in the United States.
The difficulty lies in figuring out how to squeeze military officers – many of whom have few financial accounts in the United States – without harming the civilian population. Another way Biden can put pressure on Myanmar is by imposing “secondary sanctions” that penalize non-Americans doing business in Myanmar. This would have the effect of driving many non-American foreign companies away from the country.
American officials, including General Mark Milley, president of the Joint Chiefs of Staff, have tried to contact their colleagues in Myanmar, also known as Burma. But, according to information from American officials so far, there has been no luck in reaching key figures, including deposed civilian de facto Aung San Suu Kyi, who is among the detainees.
“A very small circle of Burmese military leaders chose their own interests rather than the will and well-being of the people,” said a State Department official in a call with reporters on Tuesday. “We will continue to support the people of Burma.”
The United Nations Security Council, in turn, held a session to discuss Myanmar on Tuesday, but there were divisions on how to proceed between western countries and China, which is Myanmar’s largest trading partner and sometimes protected it on the global stage.
Britain, as chairman of the Security Council, urged group members to “condemn the military coup” and express “deep concern” about the arrest of Myanmar’s civilian leaders, including Suu Kyi and President Win Myint, and the civil society, according to a preliminary text obtained by POLITICO. A tense debate on Tuesday morning passed over time, after China requested an extension and ended without agreement.
“There is always hope,” said a national Security Council ambassador, “some countries claim they still have no instructions (from their national capitals), but the work continues.”
Myanmar generals organized the coup on Monday, when the country’s newly elected parliament was due to meet for its first session. The military, who ruled Myanmar for decades before allowing some measure of civilian-led democracy in recent years, claimed that there was fraud in the country’s November elections, which were overwhelmingly won by Suu Kyi’s party, the National League for Democracy.
The coup is a major foreign policy crisis that Biden faces just days after taking office. Biden, who has pledged to promote democracy and human rights worldwide, regretted the acquisition and said his government is considering sanctions on the Asian country.
State Department officials who confirmed the determination of the coup – a legal process that could take some time – said on Tuesday that they are in contact with partner and allied nations about the situation in Myanmar.
The United States will work with these other countries “to support respect for democracy and the rule of law in Burma, as well as to promote accountability for those responsible for overturning the democratic transition in Burma,” said a State Department official.
At the request of the White House, Milley reached his Burmese counterpart, Min Aung Hlaing, now the de facto leader of Myanmar and commander in chief of the Armed Forces of Myanmar. However, Milley’s attempts to contact Min Aung Hlaing were unsuccessful, according to his spokesman, Colonel Dave Butler.
Milley does not have a direct line to his counterpart in Myanmar, but he contacted through the defense attaché at the Myanmar consulate in Washington, DC, according to a defense official.